The US Open wrapped up this past weekend and what an exhilarating ending it was! Both the men and the women’s tournaments crowned historic winners; on the men’s side, Novak Djokovic won his 24th major tournament, tied for the most in history with Margaret Court. On the women’s side, Coco Gauff won her first major and became the first American teenager to win the singles crown since Serena Williams in 1999. Each player and match of the 2023 US Open unfolded a narrative with a lasting legacy.
Each year New York City celebrates the US Open, signifying the end of summer. The crowd tends to rally around the American players. This year, the theme of the US open was celebrating 50 years of equal prize money for men and women. The Open was the first sporting event in history to give equal pay to women participants. Former first lady, Michelle Obama, attended the US Open on opening night to watch Coco Guaff, as well as speak about equal pay for women in sports.
Along with the celebration of 50 years of equal pay, Billie Jean King, the iconic women’s champion, was honored for being the first woman to receive equal pay, winning ‘the battle of the sexes’ match against Bobby Riggs in 1973, as well as creating a movement in general for women in sports and society. Additionally, artwork created by artist Camilia Pinheiro, was also closely selected to praise King’s iconic style on the court. Polo Ralph Lauren partnered with the US Open to recreate King’s memorable style.
Many famous and memorable players returned to the US Open this year. Venus Williams at the age of forty-three, played in the first round of women’s singles and lost to Greet Minnen. Former #1 ranked player and major champion Caroline Wozniacki returned to the Open and made it to the 4th round.
The culmination of the tournament was the exciting semi-finals and ultimately the finals in both the women’s and men’s tournaments. On the women’s side, Coco-Gauff, seeded 6th in the tournament, faced off against Karolina Muchova, the 10th seed from Czechoslovakia in the first semi-final, being the first semis for both players. Gauff outlasted Muchova 6-4, 7-5 and it took Gauff six match points to finally finish off the match. In the second semi-final, 2nd seed Belarusian Arnya Sabalenka finished off 17th seed American Madison Keys in a 3 set epic match. Savalenka lost the first set 6-0, stormed back from 5-3 in the second set and 4-2 in the third. She won the match 0-6, 7-6, 7-6.
In the final, the NY crowd was wildly behind Grauff as she won a hard fought match against Sabalenka in 3 sets. Gauff was emotional after the match, as expected. Ironically, after the Open, Sabalenka will be the new world #1 ranked women’s player and Gauff will be #3.
In the men’s draw, the dream scenario was a rematch of the Wimbledon final in July between 20 year old New York fan favorite Carlos Alcaraz, seeded #1 and 2nd seed Djokovic from Serbia. However, Alcaraz needed to get past 3rd seeded Russian Danill Medvedev to get to the final. Medvedev upset the reigning champion and ruined grand plans for the weekend with a 4 set victory. In the other semi-final match, Djokovic easily defeated American Ben Shelton in a 3 set victory.
The final on Sunday was a bit anticlimactic with Djokovic winning again in straight sets to achieve his record tying 24th Grand Slam victory. In making history, there are some who say he may be the greatest tennis player of all time.
Now another memorable US Open has come to a close. The two week tournament was highlighted by an outstanding performance by several up and coming American players, in addition to Coco Gauff’s surprising victory. Unfortunately, we need to wait until the end of next summer to again witness the drama and enthusiasm of another Championship in Queens. In the meantime, come out to see the Fieldston tennis team (I hear they are pretty good).
